2014 Seen Through the Lens of Lucas Jackson

Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson has had a busy, eventful year. Based in New York, his job took him not only around that city, but to hotspots around the world, covering sports, fashion, government policy-making, protest, daily life, war, and much more. By my count, the Reuters news agency distributed nearly 5,000 photos taken by Jackson in 2014. He covered events in Russia, India, and Afghanistan, and in the U.S., California, Colorado, Missouri, and, of course, New York. Looking through the images, one can virtually travel along with Jackson, as he jostles with other photographers at red carpet events, or tries to find the best angle to tell a story during a tense protest, or just captures a great moment that happens to take place in front of him. To end the year, Jackson has spent the past few weeks embedded with the U.S. Army's 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Afghanistan, covering the formal end of the combat mission there. Below, in roughly chronological order, is a look at some of the stories brought to us through Jackson's lens in the last year.

Austria's first-placed Julia Dujmovits poses with a national flag after the flower ceremony for the women's parallel slalom snowboard event at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Rosa Khutor on February 22, 2014.#

Providence police officer Taylor Britto is thanked for taking an inebriated man home while on patrol in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, on March 20, 2014. Public pressure, federal funding, data-driven policing and greater community organization are all prompting more experimentation around the U.S. with new ways to get at the roots of urban poverty and crime.#

Drummer Dave Grohl of Nirvana performs after the band was inducted during the 29th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 11, 2014.#

Children wait for their turn during an audition for the School of American Ballet in New York on April 25, 2014. The school was holding auditions for over 600 beginner ballet students, to be selected to fill the 120 spots available to study on campus.#

Rose petals dropped by helicopters fall around the Statue of Liberty in New York on June 6, 2014. The event was organized by the organization "The French Will Never Forget" to mark the 70th anniversary of World War Two's D-Day landings.#

Rancher Steve Pargin (left) holds a young border collie that cowboy David Thompson had brought to him while they prepare to gather cattle near Ignacio, Colorado, on June 10, 2014. The land where the cattle graze is leased from the Forest Service by third-generation rancher Steve Pargin.#

Cattle cool down and drink water at a man-made reservoir in the mountains near Ignacio, Colorado, on June 11, 2014. Several times a year, rancher Steve Pargin and a crew led by his head cowboy, David Thompson, spend a week or more herding cattle from mountain range to mountain range to prevent them from causing damage to fragile ecosystems by staying in a single area too long.#

Fans of team U.S.A. sing the Star Spangled Banner while watching a telecast of the team's 2014 World Cup round of 16 game against Belgium at Studio Square in the Queens borough of New York on July 1, 2014.#

Pallbearers carry the casket of Eric Garner out of the Bethel Baptist Church following his funeral in New York on July 23, 2014. Garner's dying moments on a Staten Island sidewalk were captured on two videos recorded by bystanders. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was elected last year in part because of his promise to mend frayed relations between the police and New Yorkers belonging to ethnic minorities, has called the death a tragedy. In December, a Grand Jury decided not to indict the police officer who apparently held Garner in a choke-hold, setting off further waves of protest.#

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks past a statue after a visit to the Central Cottage Industries Emporium marketplace in New Delhi, India, on July 31, 2014. The visit by Kerry to India was his first following the resounding election win of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May.#

A man walks down a flooded road in Islip, New York, on August 13, 2014. More than a foot of rain hit parts of New York's Long Island, enough to set a preliminary state record, triggering flash floods and swamping cars on major roads that were turned into rivers during the morning rush hour.#

Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson (left) speaks to protesters as he walks through a peaceful demonstration as communities continue to react to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 14, 2014.#

A police officer raises his weapon at a car speeding in his general direction as a more vocal and confrontational group of demonstrators stands on the sidewalk during further protests in reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown near Ferguson, Missouri, on August 18, 2014. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters after days of unrest sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman.#

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Jack Ma speaks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before the company's initial public offering (IPO) under the ticker "BABA", in New York, on September 19, 2014. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's shares surged by more than 40 percent in their first day of trading on Friday as investors jumped in to buy what was the largest IPO in history.#

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reflected on a pane of glass in front of spectators as he speaks at Madison Square Garden in New York, during his visit to the United States, on September 28, 2014.#

Rabbis pray at the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, in the Queens borough of New York November 21, 2014. The Rabbis were in New York for the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries.#

Police officers and National Guard soldiers watch protesters gathered to demand justice for the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, outside the Ferguson Police Department in Ferguson, Missouri, on November 28, 2014.#

A melted sign droops in front of a business on W. Florissant Ave. that had been destroyed by fire during protests that erupted in reaction to the grand jury verdict in the Michael Brown shooting near Ferguson, Missouri November 28, 2014.#

Demonstrators march to City Hall as they protest a grand jury's decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for killing unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 26, 2014.#

A City Marshal tries to stop a group of protesters from entering St. Louis City Hall in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 26, 2014. The group was marching in protest of the grand jury decision on the killing of Michael Brown.#

A U.S. soldier from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment relaxes in his quarters after taking part in a mortar exercise on forward operating base Gamberi in the Laghman province of Afghanistan on December 24, 2014.#